Centre has discharged Puja Khedkar, former probationary civil servant, from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, official sources said on Saturday. Khedkar has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits to ensure her selection in the service. She has denied all allegations.

The central government, vide order dated September 6, 2024, discharged Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, with immediate effect, the sources said. The rules allow the central government to discharge probationers from service if they fail “to pass the re-examination...” or “if the central government is satisfied that the probationer was ineligible for recruitment to the Service or is unsuitable for being a member of the Service”, among others.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had on July 31 cancelled her candidature and debarred her from future exams. Khedkar was serving as a probationary IAS officer in her cadre state Maharashtra. She had allegedly changed her name and parents' names to appear for the examination more times than what is allowed.

“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future examinations/selections of the UPSC,” a UPSC statement has said.

A 2023-batch IAS officer, Puja also faces allegations of posing as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her UPSC candidature and refusing to take tests to corroborate her claims of visual and mental disabilities.